Broken wrist in plaster cast - help

toffee'n'tom

Just about keeping it together.

Been to hospital today and found that 17 yr old son has fractured the scaphoid bone in his wrist after a fall off his bike yesterday. Apart from having to pull out of a national swimming event ( which he has achieved times for and trained all year for) and losing all costs in relation to that, I booked our yearly holiday last week, fed up after weeks of waiting for my house buyer to stop dragging his heels and which was supposed to be our holiday of a lifetime but left the holiday insurance for a later date!

We're going back to the hospital tomorrow to the fracture clinic for a permanent cast and I will obviously ask advice there, but does anyone have any experience holidays with fractures? I am expecting them to tell me the cast will be on for at least 6-8 weeks which is when we are away. Can I ask the hospital if they can provide a waterproof cast? If they are available are they effective? Are the commercial waterproof covers effective?

Drowning my sorrows in wine at the moment but would be grateful for any advice.

gasmanuk

Oh i feel your pain!!!! - 6 days before we went on holiday our 3 year old broke her leg!!:eek: She had a full cast on from the top of her leg to her toes!! I felt just like you do now! We asked at our hospital if they did waterproof casts but they didnt. We were so disappointed for her that she wouldnt have the holiday she had been talking about for weeks. Anyway when we got over the shock we decided that we just had to make the best of it The hospital told us to buy a waterproof cast cover so she would still be able to swim a bit but when I phoned to order the one they had suggested the custommer services lady told us that they wernt recommened for swimming - just light bathing! We looked online and found one called "Protectacast" and it saved our holiday!! Truely. It came the day after I ordered it and is made from swimming cap type rubber. It took a bit of getting used to putting it on and it is worth taking the time to make sure its on properly but it didnt leak once! Our daughter was able to go swimming for 1-2 hours every day with no problems. I honestly dread to think what we would have done without it!

How long is it until you go away? I know just how you are feeling but it might not be as bad as youre expecting. Are you flying? If so you will need to phone the airline to check you can still travel.

Our daoughter has just had her cast taken off today after 7 weeks! Its a relief to have it off but it is surprising at how quickly you can adapt to it.

Hope it all works out and you still have a fab holiday!!

lisaloo1977

I broke my scaphoid bone when back packing round Australia. I had to have a half cast on and then have another X-ray a few weeks later due to affecting the blood in the hand and ended up having surgery. It was all a bit of a nightmare, but I coped alone with the help of a few nice people who helped carry my back pack and surf board!
It is a pain and I'm sorry your going through this, I hope its a simple clean break with no further problems

Sorry if this has been a worry post, just wanted you to know that whilst most are normal and you have hopefully already been given that news, it can be a little more awkward. like I said I continued to back pack around oz with it, so your holiday should be fine bar the swimming

toffee'n'tom

gasmanuk wrote: »

Oh i feel your pain!!!! - 6 days before we went on holiday our 3 year old broke her leg!!:eek: She had a full cast on from the top of her leg to her toes!! I felt just like you do now! We asked at our hospital if they did waterproof casts but they didnt. We were so disappointed for her that she wouldnt have the holiday she had been talking about for weeks. Anyway when we got over the shock we decided that we just had to make the best of it The hospital told us to buy a waterproof cast cover so she would still be able to swim a bit but when I phoned to order the one they had suggested the custommer services lady told us that they wernt recommened for swimming - just light bathing! We looked online and found one called "Protectacast" and it saved our holiday!! Truely. It came the day after I ordered it and is made from swimming cap type rubber. It took a bit of getting used to putting it on and it is worth taking the time to make sure its on properly but it didnt leak once! Our daughter was able to go swimming for 1-2 hours every day with no problems. I honestly dread to think what we would have done without it!

How long is it until you go away? I know just how you are feeling but it might not be as bad as youre expecting. Are you flying? If so you will need to phone the airline to check you can still travel.

Our daoughter has just had her cast taken off today after 7 weeks! Its a relief to have it off but it is surprising at how quickly you can adapt to it.

Hope it all works out and you still have a fab holiday!!

Thanks so much for that. We're going on the 1st August. I will be asking the hospital tomorrow about a waterproof cast because 6-8 weeks out of swimming training is a very long time. And of course our holiday. We're all so upset about it all. I hope your daughter is well now. I will definitely check out that site and I suppose we will just have to make the best of it. thanks again

toffee'n'tom

gasmanuk wrote: »

Oh i feel your pain!!!! - 6 days before we went on holiday our 3 year old broke her leg!!:eek: She had a full cast on from the top of her leg to her toes!! I felt just like you do now! We asked at our hospital if they did waterproof casts but they didnt. We were so disappointed for her that she wouldnt have the holiday she had been talking about for weeks. Anyway when we got over the shock we decided that we just had to make the best of it The hospital told us to buy a waterproof cast cover so she would still be able to swim a bit but when I phoned to order the one they had suggested the custommer services lady told us that they wernt recommened for swimming - just light bathing! We looked online and found one called "Protectacast" and it saved our holiday!! Truely. It came the day after I ordered it and is made from swimming cap type rubber. It took a bit of getting used to putting it on and it is worth taking the time to make sure its on properly but it didnt leak once! Our daughter was able to go swimming for 1-2 hours every day with no problems. I honestly dread to think what we would have done without it!

How long is it until you go away? I know just how you are feeling but it might not be as bad as youre expecting. Are you flying? If so you will need to phone the airline to check you can still travel.

Our daoughter has just had her cast taken off today after 7 weeks! Its a relief to have it off but it is surprising at how quickly you can adapt to it.

Hope it all works out and you still have a fab holiday!!

sorry forgot to say haven't checked out with the holiday company yet but their rules and conditions state that you can fly with a cast providing it was put in over 48 hours previous to flying. which will be fine. I'm just hoping for better news from the fracture clinic tomorrow. Please let this be a lesson to everyone though to book holiday insurance immediately after you book your holiday!!

thanks again

gasmanuk

Oh its just so disappointing isnt it?! Honestly in a few days you might start to feel better about it, I hope so. See how you get on at the hospital tomorrow.

Thats great about your airline, at least you know you can still go(!) and I bet it wont be as bad as youre imagining. We still had a great holiday although I would be lying if I said her broken leg didnt have any impact but thats because we had to carry her everywhere or push her in a pushchair for the first week but amazingly by the second week she was walking on the cast - she looked so funny!lol And with your son being older he'll be able to manage most things himself after a while.

Fingers crossed tomorrow goes OK for you all

toffee'n'tom

gasmanuk wrote: »

Oh its just so disappointing isnt it?! Honestly in a few days you might start to feel better about it, I hope so. See how you get on at the hospital tomorrow.

Thats great about your airline, at least you know you can still go(!) and I bet it wont be as bad as youre imagining. We still had a great holiday although I would be lying if I said her broken leg didnt have any impact but thats because we had to carry her everywhere or push her in a pushchair for the first week but amazingly by the second week she was walking on the cast - she looked so funny!lol And with your son being older he'll be able to manage most things himself after a while.



Fingers crossed tomorrow goes OK for you all

Thank you so much for your reply and empathy. it means a lot . this is probably going to be the last holiday for myself, son and daughter together and I pushed the boat out as it meant so much. the swimming competition is just as disappointing as he would have done really well at national level. Just hope he can carry on competing.

C_Mababejive

Scaphoid fractures require special attention as if they go wrong, he will have problems in later life. It is critical that it is monitored and treated to ensure the best outcome.

Incapuppy

toffeentom wrote: »

Please let this be a lesson to everyone though to book holiday insurance immediately after you book your holiday!!

Indeed. This board is littered with stories of people who failed to do so.

Remember to declare your son's injury to insurers; there is a possibility that you may have to pay a small increase against a normal premium to have it covered or that it may be excluded from being insured against any further complications.

I wish your son well and hope that you manage to enjoy a lovely family holiday.

tooldle

My daughter broke the same bone at the begining of December, along with two other bones. From what the consultant said, the scaphoid can take a long time to heal. This is because it has a poor blood supply. Treatment depends on the location of the break. My daughter was lucky and avoided the operation. Her's was plastered. Standard time for a brokedn arm is apparently two weeks. Beacuse she had also broken the scaphoid, she was given four weeks in plaster. Hers did heal in that time.
We also had a holiday booked; daughter is also a regular swimmer. I did find a waterproof cast cover. Out of necessity these need to be a really tight fit. It was comfortable enough to shower with etc, but daughter found it painfull to keep it on for longer periods. Fortunately her cast came off the day before we flew.

mazza111

Might not be good enough for swimming, but you could also consider taking a load of bin bags and sticky tape with you. This is what we done when DD was in a cast. She wasn't old enough to swim, but we sticky taped her up good to allow her some splash time in the pool. I know they don't recommend this, but for short periods and replacing regularly... This was back in the day before you could buy the waterproof thingies though. Even with her recent broken leg, we used bin bags and sticky tape for in the shower or bathing

Hope he manages to get the cast off before you go though